CLEVELAND (AP)  A Cleveland woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report.

Elecia Battle told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart in suburban South Euclid last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing.

The Ohio Lottery said last week that the winning ticket was sold at the store, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.

I feel like crap right now, said Battle, who cried while speaking to The Associated Press at her home Monday night.

Police say Battle also was in tears when she came to the station Friday to file the report and did not hesitate when asked to write down the winning numbers.

We dont believe that shes fabricating it, but theres no real way of knowing other than going on her word, Lt. Kevin Nieter told Clevelands WEWS-TV on Monday.

Nieter said information Battle knew about when the ticket was bought and how the numbers were picked make her story credible. She told police that the numbers  12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49  represented family birthdays and ages.
The winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers, not someone who let the machine pick.

Messages seeking comment left Monday with the police department were not immediately returned.

Battle, 40, is a pharmacy trainer for Rite-Aid. She would not talk about the specifics of when she bought the ticket, how she lost it or even if she was a regular lottery player. She said her attorney, Sheldon Starke, would have a news conference Tuesday to announce a reward.

Im praying that someone finds the ticket, brings it forward and gets rewarded and from there we all live happily ever after. Im just praying it has a positive ending, she said.

Her husband, Jimmy Battle, has two jobs, including a paper route. The couple has seven children  some from previous marriages  ranging in age from 13 to 30.

To have something in your hand and have it slip out is a tough thing to swallow, said Jimmy Battle, 48.

Nieter said Elecia Battle may be out of luck if someone else picked up the lone winning ticket.

Whoever has the ticket has the right to stake the claim to the winning jackpot. You can file all the police reports you want but its not going to help, he said.

After news of Battles police report spread Monday night, about 30 people wielding flashlights walked through snow and braved frigid temperatures to try to find the ticket in the store parking lot and nearby bushes.

I decided to come back to see if I could find the winning ticket, said LaVerne Coleman, 57. The South Euclid woman said she would keep the millions if she found the ticket.

The police report says officers tried to see if Battle showed up on the stores surveillance cameras but the store owner said the cameras were broken.

In CA, the tickets are issued on paper with no record of the purchaser. The Lotto commission announces the store locations of the winning tickets after a drawing. I don't think they could ever validate if the presenter was the original purchaser of the ticket.

In the UK every lottery outlet has a terminal connected to the central computer so it is possible to pinpoint the outlet selling the winning ticket. It is , therefore possible to easily verify false claims as the outlet is not released to the public.. As far as I am aware thoughy, this does not help a person who has lost their ticket as the rule "no ticket, no prize" still applies.

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